As I finishes my work for Chiwara, I cannot help but to feel sad. It saddens me when I realized that I cannot randomly harvest mustard greens or potatoes nor can I walk around the krater garden eating an assortment of butter lettuce and dill. I also cannot frequently see and dialogue about social justice and permaculture with the community members of Highland Park. However, fortunately for Facebook, I can still communicate with them. I felt happy when they say they will miss me and when they asked for ways to stay in contact with me. I am glad that I was able to meet and share a positive experience learning about permaculture in Detroit with them. It was a wonderful summer, and it was a pleasure to meet and interact with all the people and places I came across this summer.
I am extremely grateful that I can participate in this program. I have an amazing director, Nate, who was always patient and willing to explain about Chiwara, permaculture, music, and life to me. He was willing to let me be myself and he always make sure I feel comfortable and useful. I am also extremely grateful for all the friends I made in this program. I enjoy all the laughs and meaningful conversations I have with them. I love chatting about my day, playing “thunk,” and consulting them about my trivial problems. My summer was amazing because of them. Without their patience and willingness to make me laugh, my summer would not be as meaningful and enjoyable.
Thank you for everything! My summer 2013 was a blast!
-Credit Alan Sedghi for all of the photos
Chiwara seems so cool and it’s great that you really got a community feel out of this program! Dialoguing about social justice and permaculture sounds fantastic (especially in Highland Park — I’m sure people had a lot of interesting ideas). All your photos are gorgeous by the way =D
Hau, Chiwara sounds like an awesome place to work! It’s great to hear that you ended up such great friends with your coworkers. Do you know of that collaboration with GenesisHOPE has made any progress? (we can take all the credit if it does, of course!)
Wow Hau those are some great photos, Im glad you enjoyed your Summer in Detroit.